Writings by Barri Cae Mallin

God's appointed Cho-shekh (darkness)

Thursday 26 August 2004 - 13:31:52

"He sent darkness and made it dark, and they did not rebel against His word."
Psalm 105:28

In my reading this week, I came across the above verse, and God really spoke to my heart. The verse relates to the re-telling of Moses' life in Egypt, and the plagues that God sent to Egypt. God sent the darkness, yet the children of Israel did not rebel against His word.

When God has sent times of darkness into my life, would His report about me be the same as the children of Israel - this one (Barri) did not rebel? I don't think so. I don't know if I have ever gone through darkness and not complained, murmured or grumbled. And I am sure I complained to God, and even blamed Him for it.

Yes, God sends darkness for a time. But I am wrong when I complain to
Him about it. There are lessons that He wants me to learn about the darkness that He has purposefully sent (Isaiah 45:7)

From Zodhiates Word study, Cho-shekh is the Hebrew word for darkness - darkness, obscurity, night, misery.
Darkness accompanied God's appearance on Mt Sinai; darkness was at creation:
" And the earth was without form and void; and darkness (cho-shekh)
was on the face of the deep (Gen.1:2)

Darkness was at Jesus' death, too:
"And it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness (skotos in
Greek) over all the earth until the ninth hour.
And the sun was darkened (skotos) and the veil of the
Temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:44-45)

I am not speaking of the type of darkness that results from disobedience to God by us. There is a type of darkness sent by God (Isa.45:7) where sometimes it seems like we are all alone, that God has forsaken us. We don't sense His moving in an area or areas of our lives, perhaps we are waiting for a medical diagnosis, something financial, a judgment, maybe a job. But the delay is> maddening for us; the type of delay that brings forth the words -
God, have You forsaken me?

It is at that point where one most identifies with Yeshua Jesus, as He uttered those words from the Cross at His death. But God indeed turn from Jesus then; as Jesus took our sins upon Himself, God cannot look upon sin, and had to turn from His Son.

God never forsakes us. If we have confessed with our mouths and believed in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we are saved from hell, it is a work of faith. We have much to rejoice in our times of darkness, for we are never alone.

Darkness had to surround Moses as he ascended up Mt Sinai to meet with God. Jamie Buckingham, in his book, "A Way through the Wilderness", describes his own ascent of Mount Sinai.

It was 3am and in order to reach the top by dawn,
we had to climb in the dark.....
We began our climb, the stars were brilliant and
I soon realized there was enough
light for the climb if we moved slowly, deliberately,
toward the peaks still another 3500 feet above us.

Everyone had flashlights but the guide said to put
them away, and Jamie said "For most of you, this
will be your only opportunity to climb the mountain of God.
Don't spoil the moment by talking.
Let God speak to you as you climb."

The author tells how each climbed at his own speed, and the rocks
and the mountains took shape around them. They could see the steep cliffs above, the steep fall below. He wrote "in the silence, God began to speak to my heart, just as He has to do with all men who dare to risky walk of faith. My heart was consumed with
joy...Moses had stood here, hearing this same Voice."

He spoke of turning and seeing two men, looking discouraged,
walking with flashlights and talking. Jamie said
" They could not see what I saw - the heavens,
the majestic mountain peaks...
they were drowning out the voice of God." He concluded:

There is a time, it seems, in our walk through
the wilderness, that we must risk walking in darkness
and silence. It is at this time we must take our
understanding of things as they seem, fold it into our
backpack, and walk with only the hand of God guiding us."

And we have God's word to assure us, as He assured Moses in the
wilderness:

and He said, "My Presence shall go with you,
and I will give you rest."
Exodus 33:14

Copyright © Barri Cae Mallin.